Family Matters

May 23, 2011

Family Matters

Sunday was a good day.

Fairly girl-y looking, right?

Why? Honestly, not totally sure. It started out as a serious bummer, driving to my parent’s house in the morning, cloudy skies, drizzling rain, and if I’m being totally honest, a completely insane (and I mean this in a literal sense) gas station attendant that actually asked me if I was a boy or a girl. While I’m fully aware that, despite the short hair and love of baggy t-shirts in the morning, I pretty obviously am a girl (excuse me, a woman), it still didn’t set the tone for a great day.

Getting home to a giant “to-do” list didn’t make me feel any better, but rather than work on small computer stuff, I figured I would tackle the big project of cleaning my miniscule room and sorting through winter/summer cycling gear, now that I’m not wearing legwarmers every time I leave the house. That ate into my morning, and rather than riding outside (again with the thunderclouds of doom), I ended up rowing in the basement, then hitting the trainer with my new cyclometer that reads cadence and is a rear motion sensor. Turns out spinning 70 is comfortable for me, but hitting 80 on my trainer just plain bites. After that and some core work, I counted myself done for the day and went out with my dad to get groceries for the new healthy week I’m starting.

I also got coffee and spinach dumplings for lunch. Turns out coffee, a small lunch, and chocolate after a week of minimal caffeine is a whole lot of kick for a small(ish) girl. I didn’t quite realize it, but I guess the coffee hit me pretty hard, and before I knew it, I was bouncing off the walls, moving a new dresser into my room, and declaring the house to be “in a state of emergency.” Because I’m moving home for the CX season starting September (my old lease will be up and I don’t know what state or city I want to move to, nor do I have time), I’ve been trying to figure out how to carve out space for training, for my desk, and for my sister and I to have friends. I should explain- my house is my grandparent’s old house and when we moved in, we didn’t get rid of a lot of their stuff- it’s in the attic, basement and garage.

So, I decided (in a caffeine haze) that we needed to clear a spot in the basement for my sister and I to have couches and our bookshelves and a TV (the other half of the basement is for my mom’s in home daycare), and that half of the garage needs to be a home gym. This will involve getting rid of a lot of stuff, so I declared we would have a garage sale “1 month from today!”

Weirdly, my parents didn’t try to talk me down. Rather, we spent the next two hours (my dad might have gotten into a six-pack at some point earlier) really loudly discussing plans, pointing at stuff, gesturing wildly, making lists, and of course, trying to figure out what bikes we could build with all the parts lying around (a lot of crap ones, is the answer).

The explanation of all the crap in our house leads to an awesome segue to my second summer project. While riding with dad, the conversation went like so:

“I’m thinking about getting a camping spot for a weekend at Round Valley so me and some friends can do a lot of mountain biking, then camp and hang out.” (me)
“Oh, you should take the boat so you can get your gear to the site easier.” (dad)
“You mean the canoe?”
“No, the motorboat.”
“We have a MOTORBOAT?”

It turns out that yes, my family has a motorboat. It’s in the backyard behind a shed. It’s been there for 20-odd years. Actually, we have two, to be honest. They’re used, and from the 30s, but the point stands: we have boats! So now, on my ever-growing list of stuff to do, my dad and I are getting the titles moved to him and I, and then we’re going to go to the classes to get our boating licenses together, so we can take the boat to good mountain biking spots. Have I mentioned how awesome this man is?!

And lastly, in terms of my dad’s awesome-ness, I’m hosting a few of the pro guys racing in the Tour of Somerville this weekend. Upon telling my dad this, he told me my apartment was too small for them and to bring them to our house, then started figuring out sleeping arrangements and planning a cookout. Seriously- I tried to leave to get back to my apartment, and he ran up to the car, out of breath, and when I rolled down the window, told me to “find out how many of them are vegan, vegetarian and carnivores, so I can get enough stuff.”

Love him.

I drove home to my apartment with a huge grin on my face because every once in a while, I’m reminded of just how awesome my life really is.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Welcome to The Outdoor Edit! I'm Molly Hurford, a writer and coach, and here, we're talking all about navigating an active, adventurous lifestyle—everything about the active lifestyle, not just the highlights and the Instagram-perfect moments. I'm the author of The Shred Girls Series, Fuel Your Ride; Saddle, Sore; and Mud, Snow and Cyclocross. I'm a writer for Bicycling Magazine and plenty of other outdoor fitness sites like MapMyRun.com, and co-host of The Consummate Athlete podcast. I desperately love riding, running, swimming, climbing, yoga, comic books, reading, travel, my turtle named Sven, my husband named Peter, and long walks on the beach.